|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
U.S. Response: Thompson Requests More Funding for Bioresponse U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced yesterday the George W. Bush administration’s request for an additional $1.5 billion to combat bioterrorism and outlined how the government would use the funds to bolster biological attack defenses. During testimony before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Thompson noted the president’s request would increase the funding Congress appropriated for biological warfare preparation in FY 2001 by six times. “Bioterrorism has not – and I want to underscore this – has not been a high fiscal priority in the past, and we need to move aggressively,” he said. Thompson said $1.2 million of the proposal would be spent to speed drug development and stockpiling and improve distribution. $643 million would expand the country’s pharmaceutical stockpile, and $509 million would go toward developing and buying smallpox vaccines (see GSN, today). Increased funding would allow the government to add four “push packs,” each of which consists of 50 tons of pharmaceutical equipment such as antibiotics and oxygen masks for deployment after an attack. The Health and Human Services Department would receive $88 million under the proposal, and $20 million of that money would enhance the Centers for Disease Control rapid response and laboratory abilities. Thompson said it would also include $20 million to support additional expert epidemiologists, adding that he thought every state should have at least one federally funded epidemiologist who has graduated from the Epidemic Intelligence Special Service Training Program at CDC. Another $50 million of the total proposal would strengthen and expand the Metropolitan Medical Response System. There are 97 MMRS units currently established in large cities, and Thompson said he would like to raise the number to 122. The president was asking for $40 million to support early detection surveillance, including hooking all 50 states and local health departments up to the health alert network, Thompson said. Another $15 million would go to increasing capacity in at least 78 state laboratories, and $62 million to enhance food safety. Thompson said developing and approving new vaccines and therapies is also an important aspect of the administration’s plans. He announced that the Food and Drug Administration had just approved two generic antibiotics for treating anthrax. Thompson said the United States has the drugs it needs, and there was no need for people to stockpile drugs. New Legislative Proposals Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) told the committee he would present three new bills to improve U.S. bioattack response capability. One bill would focus on developing “tools to minimize the impact of bioterrorism” by reducing the number of victims and alerting authorities and medical personnel to an attack before symptoms show. The second bill would use existing emergency communications infrastructure, training programs and community partnerships within the country’s Veterans Affairs hospitals to train those hospital medical personnel, Akaka said. The third measure, the Biosecurity Agricultural Terrorism Act of 2001, would enhance federal efforts to prevent and recover from agricultural terrorist acts, the senator said (Federal News Service, Oct. 17).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
